In 2009 car manufacturer Citroën introduced a major rebrand, designed by Landor. The rebranding program included a complete redesign of Citroën’s showrooms and all visual communications.

The advertisements campaigns are already changed in the Netherlands. What I noticed was the usage of a custom typeface instead of the typeface Futura/Gill Sans, as used before. The new custom typeface is mainly used in uppercase. I have searched about the origin of this typeface but nothing came up, so far.

Below you will find various photos taken with clear usage of the new typeface. I very much like how this typeface works, it has a very sleek and modern look. Especially the thin font variant works really well. It attracted my attention immediately.

Citroën typeface

The main reason the typeface is very eligible because of its square glyphs, almost every single glyphs has the same dimensions, which makes it really readable from a distance.

From a online PDF file I have learned that this custom typeface has three font variants and are named:

Citroen

Citroen-Bold

Citroen-Light

Graphic principles for visibility and consistency
CITROËN is introducing new graphic designs, a single typography and a unique tone of voice to boost the visibility and consistency of the brand. The new brand will universally reflect the Marque’s new status. The key colours are white, denoting openness and elegance, and red, to express vitality, together with black, grey and chrome, for status and power.

Uppercase and lowercase usage

In my opinion the uppercase only text is much stronger than the lowercase variant, but it has a strong distinctive look which seems to be bases on a combination between Futura & Gill Sans. If any one knows who designed the custom typeface please let me know.

Citroën logo

Since its introduction there has been many discussions about the logo, personally I prefer the new logo above the old one because of its transparency look & feel.

Visit Brand New at Underconsideration for a full review and comments on the new Citroën logo.